Trying to fit 15 inch wheels on a 16 inch wheel set up

[Moore89]

Hello I'm new here but not a idiot and don't need people telling me Oh that not how stuff is supposed to work you should sell your setup and get what's made for you vehicle...anyways I have a 97 4runner and I have a set of 15 inch wheels and the reason I'm against getting rid of them is they are 12 inch wide I already have the lift installed the tires and wheels mounted and on the vehicle.my problem and I knew it was going to happen is mine came with 16 inch wheels obviously bigger calibers and such so at first I went and got the 15 inch setup rotors and calibers rotors went right on but the flange on the new caliber was way way to short wouldn't even come close so I the figured I wasn't out much by grinding on the factory caliber like I've seen so I did and got the wheel to fit but still was barely hitting and wouldn't spin freely so my dad jumped on the grinder 1 more time and at that point it went to far and ruined that caliber so my question is how do I make this work everything is so close but I'm obviously not getting the right combination of things here at this point do I need to just get a specific caliber or change lower control arms out or what? Any help greatly appreciated

[Seanz0rz]

http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthread.php?10573-fitting-15-quot-steel-rims-on-a-16-quot-brake&highlight=Caliper

This does not exactly apply to you since you already have wheels. But there may be some useful information there.

I will look through the part database and see if I can get the part numbers for the smaller rotors and calipers.

I will go ahead and say that you really should stick with the larger brakes. But you know that already.

[Seanz0rz]

I cannot find any definitive information on 15" vs 16" brake parts. Your local dealer might be helpful (I seriously doubt that though).

[troyboy162]

ditch the 12" rims or you will risk blowing beads. Unless its a 40" tire you belong on a 7"-9" rim. Narrow rims are a poor mans bead lock.

take a caliper apart to get an idea how much meat you can take off. Keep in mind youre taking structural strength away from the caliper and thermal mass so just because you can grind down to 1/16 of the fluid passages dosnt mean you should. The o-rings to rebuild the caliper are available but I just reused the old ones without a problem. Its a slow process. I took a full afternoon with each caliper and must have mounted the rim close to 60 times on each side. Being brakes you gotta take your time and get it right. Failure could mean death.

im a few years into it now with no problems. My friend did his without issue, but his friend ruined a caliper as you did.